An average guy capable of discussing TV & film on a higher level but would rather do it from the couch.

I’m All In On HBO’s The Young Pope.

This show has been on my radar and I finally got the chance to sit down and watch the first two episodes this weekend. First of all it’s very weird not being able to watch an entire season whenever I want… how did people live normal lives before Netflix and OnDemand? Finishing up episode 2 and not being able to just keep going into episode 3 was sobering dose of reality but whatever I’m strong enough to power through it.

The Young Pope is bizarre and creepy and I love it. Jude Law is perfect as the Pope who doesn’t give a fuck about tradition and only wants to be the villain. No, it doesn’t make sense that he’d be elected Pope when seemingly none of the Cardinals like him or even knew him for that matter. No, it doesn’t make sense that the Pope would be 47 in today’s world. But no, none of that matters. If you get hung up on little details like that then you don’t know how to let yourself have fun. None of that matters when you watch the Pope throw out every rule and tradition the Catholic church holds sacred because it’s pure entertainment. He has an agenda and it isn’t subtle. I even heard a rumor that he drops a baby in an upcoming episode. Whether its intentional or not will determine how hard I laugh… I bet it’s intentional.

I just finished The Crown and it’s like they were specifically created to be polar opposites. Both stories have a younger than average person coming to power and being responsible for a job that is centuries old. On one side you have Queen Elizabeth playing nice, doing everything she’s told, and letting the Crown rail-road her life. On the other side you have this Pope who isn’t interested in doing anything he’s traditionally supposed to because he’ll do it his way and if you don’t like it then screw.

Spoilers- After only 2 episodes it’s hard to get a clear picture of what’s going on. Something very clearly went wrong in his life that put him on this path. Sister Mary is kind of his mom? I’m not sure. She raised him though that’s for certain. She’s been made his assistant and Mr. Pope has already put her in check for being presumptuous with her title when he found out rumors were stirring about her being the one really in charge. He did NOT like that. One part that sticks out in my mind is how she refers to the Pope as a “saint”, which is one thing for your mom to call you but something entirely else for a nun to call a Pope. It was hinted at later on when she was discussing the kangaroo scene and how it was similar to something that happened in the past but he shushed her and that was the end of it… I’m thinking that was a not-so-subtle attempt at foreshadowing. Maybe this guy really is a saint? Or just thinks he is? If that’s the case then he’s definitely more of an old testament style saint who says god should be feared or he’ll kill you.

He went a little over the top with that speech to the people at the end of the 2nd episode. Or maybe that’s just part of his plan? Maybe he’s trying to bring the church down from the inside. Because without a billion people giving the church offerings at mass every Sunday the whole thing becomes crippled. It was even mentioned how a significant portion of the church’s revenue comes from merchandise sales with the Pope’s likeness on it. Without that, the church (which is a business) starts to struggle. Nobody will buy merch if nobody likes this guy. Not a bad angle if the goal is to ruin the church.

PS- It’s worth noting that half the internet thinks this show represents Trump and the presidency… Can we just relax with all of that? I’d love it if we can just fast forward to the point where we don’t associate every bad guy or villain with the orange jackass who happens to be POTUS. Let’s not force politics into everything. It’s an awesome show. Let it be an awesome show.